Tanzania authorities orders investigation into video showing teachers beating pupil
A video that has been doing rounds on social media showing a group of five teachers savagely beating a student has finally caught authorities’ attention.
Tanzania authorities have ordered an investigation into this video.
The headteacher of the school, in the town of Mbeya in the southwest of the country, has been suspended.
In the video, which appears to have been filmed in a staff room, several men are seen forcing the boy believed to be around 16 or 17 to the ground with kicks and slaps even though corporal punishment is illegal in Tanzania.
The 38-second footage has raised outrage online, with Tanzanians demanding that the government take action against the culprits. Several Twitter users shared their dismay with the hashtag #ArrestMbeyaSecondaryTeachers.
Tanzania’s Home Affairs Minister, Mwigulu Nchemba, said the government had sent a team of investigators from the ministry of education and security to probe the incident at Mbeya Day Secondary School.
A government statement said the headteacher, Margaret Haule, had been suspended for “not taking action even after being aware of the incident”.
The assault was allegedly filmed on 28 September by a teacher not involved in the beating, who has also been questioned about it.
